Labor relations board rules against Healthbridge in union flap

Amanda Cuda

Published 9:52 pm, Tuesday, December 11, 2012

A federal judge has granted an injunction filed by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to temporarily halt New Jersey-based HealthBridge Management's unilateral implementation of a new contract at five Connecticut nursing homes.

Union spokeswoman Deborah Chernoff called the labor relations board decision "a very big deal and something that doesn't happen very often. It's a complete confirmation and vindication of everything we've been saying all along."

She said the union plans to meet with all the striking workers Wednesday and start making steps to get them all back to work.

Though HealthBridge has stated that the new guidelines provide a raise to workers, the union argues that the company is also taking away a lot from employees, including insurance contributions, pension contributions and vacation time.

Previous to the strike, HealthBridge locked out employees of West River for 14 weeks.

HealthBridge spokeswoman Lisa Crutchfield issued the following statement in reaction to the decision: "Naturally, we are disappointed in the judge's decision. We will review the decision and weigh our options. We believe the decision to grant injunctive relief unnecessarily short circuits the established venue -- the ongoing NLRB trial -- in which this issue should be resolved, and we continue to be confident that we will ultimately prevail in this matter."

The decision is subject to appeal in a U.S. Court of Appeals. However, HealthBridge will be required to implement the judge's decision while the appeals process is ongoing.